How many eggs to expect by age from Black Australorps?

We are getting 4 Australorp chicks in a little over two weeks. I am considering them a fun experience for myself and kids but my husband (who is far more practical about this than I) is already talking about what to do with them when their productivity decreases. I'm all for keeping them as pets regardless of the eggs but was hoping that since Australorps are notoriously productive, they would maintain a reasonable level of productivity later in life (in other words, even once their productivity drops, they might still be laying enough for my hubby to consider them worth their keep).

Does anyone know how many eggs Australorps lay on average in each year of life? All I can find is the 200-250 per year during their peak, but can't find any information about the off-peak, so to speak.

Thanks!

Wife to Tim, Mama to Charlie and Eleanor, Caretaker to one collie, four ungrateful cats, and four beautiful Australorps

With production birds like Australorps you can expect great egg production for the first 2 adult years. Then the production drops off. My Sister has a Polish Crested that is still laying regularly after 10 years. That is luck of the draw. The production birds have an expected run of the 2 years, and then they are culled by the big farms. That doesn't mean that the never lay again. It just means that it will drop off. So don't count on years of extreme egg laying regardless of the breed of chicken.

the hens you are taking about will be very productive from abou 6months to 2 years meaning eggs about every day. then from 2 years to 3 it will be about every day to ever other day. 3 years ever other day then from there you will get eggs sometimes everday sometimes a few a week. by age 2 i suggest you raise some more so you have a constaint supply of good egg.once you start to eat them you won't like store bought anymore.

My advice to you would be to feed your chickens well and see how it goes. You'll have plenty of time to decide later. It doesn't take that long to raise new layers and older chickens don't usually just suddenly stop laying due to age.

One of the main things that drops the annual egg count is the seasonal interruptions to laying. The times when an adult hen stops laying temporarily because she's broody, molting or the short winter days have effected her. All those days are subtracted from the egg count.

Pullets usually lay well their first fall, as they've been replacing and growing new feathers all year. They don't need to do another full molt their first fall. Most lay fine their first winter, without supplemental lighting. A lot of chickens don't go broody until their first spring. Now, all of this depends on the individual chicken.

I don't think most commercial feeds are an optimum feed for a chicken. It's a marginal feed, designed to give them the minimum nutrition for laying eggs for a couple of years. Long term, mine are healthier and lay better for longer if they get a little better diet than that. They get green feed, some non-soy protein and more protein when molting.

I don't see a drop in production when mine turn 2 years old, while they are laying. It's only from possible seasonal interruptions. Some of those interruptions can be managed to reduce their impact, too. I've seen other people posting the same thing. Their fairly young chickens, like 3 or 4 years old, are still laying almost every day. Later on, there is more of a decline over time, while still laying.

So, while I think it's good to think about all this, I think you need to also see how things go with your individual birds. Some chickens don't lay every day, even as pullets. I've had some like that, too. It just depends on the genetics of that chicken.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. It sounds like we can expect them to keep laying enough eggs long enough for my husband to not start talking chicken fricasee for at least several years. It sounds silly that I've been worrying about this so much, but I know I'm going to get attached to my girls and the thought of them being killed in a relatively short time was really upsetting me and has already caused a couple arguments. Armed with this information, I'm going to insist on deferring any further discussion until the situation comes up. Hopefully by then we'll be able to come to some sort of agreement.

Robin

Wife to Tim, Mama to Charlie and Eleanor, Caretaker to one collie, four ungrateful cats, and four beautiful Australorps

it was noted in an Australian experiment, 2 Australorp hens laid 364 eggs in 365 days.....I have 2 girls and they lay almost every day. My ONLY hen that lays every single day, my California White...medium white eggs...never fail!

it was noted in an Australian experiment, 2 Australorp hens laid 364 eggs in 365 days.....I have 2 girls and they lay almost every day. My ONLY hen that lays every single day, my California White...medium white eggs...never fail!

One almost wishes that historical fluke fact wasn't out there.

The 'Lorp that we have today is much more likely to lay 280 or a bit more, per year. That is excellent laying. But, trying to measure up to up to a one time, 364 record is rather unfair to the breed.

Fred's Hens :

Quote:

Originally Posted by JodyJo

it was noted in an Australian experiment, 2 Australorp hens laid 364 eggs in 365 days.....I have 2 girls and they lay almost every day. My ONLY hen that lays every single day, my California White...medium white eggs...never fail!

One almost wishes that historical fluke fact wasn't out there.

The 'Lorp that we have today is much more likely to lay 280 or a bit more, per year. That is excellent laying. But, trying to measure up to up to a one time, 364 record is rather unfair to the breed.